Sunday, April 26, 2015

A question from the audience at Saturday's gubernatorial debate in Nicholasville surprised some audience members when all four candidates said they had made campaign contributions to Democrats in past elections, but the rest of the story is more interesting and requires more damage control from James Comer's faltering campaign.

Comer said he had given to one Democrat -- former State Representative Richard Henderson, who lost his seat last November after getting caught up in a cockfighting scandal. But there was a Comer beneficiary who got quite a bit more than a $100 check from Commissioner Comer.

Given Comer's incoherent and painful non-explanations of his vote to pad his pocket some $500,000 at your expense, getting him to talk about why he spread your wealth on to his Democratic friend should provide him further embarrassment.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

We can fix Kentucky's failing approach to drug addiction starting with an innovative state program to guarantee safety of potential employees with past felony drug problems, said Republican gubernatorial candidate Will T. Scott.

"Our prisons are not doing their job, protecting you," Scott said. Without a different approach, a never-ending cycle of theft, robberies and worse make victims of innocent Kentuckians. "Of the people in prison due to addiction-related criminal activity, at least sixty percent will commit new crimes within three years of their release from prison," Scott said.

Scott proposes a Kentucky Certified Worker program funded with fees charged to inmates to insure employers against losses caused by rehabilitated felons. The program will provide an opportunity for rehabilitated Kentuckians to build productive lives as opposed to a life sentence in the shadows or worse.

"That means a decent job and, as Merle Haggard sang, 'having pride in who I am.'"

Part of the solution to Kentucky's worsening drug problems is more comprehensive use of drug courts with an emphasis on rehabilitation outside of prisons and in minimum security facilities for less money than we currently spend.

"This new path will work and it will make our homes, garages, highways and businesses much safer at a much lower cost," Scott said.

Justice Scott also proposes a tougher law enforcement approach against the distribution of heroin.

"Heroin transport, sales and use will be under attack like never before," Scott said, referencing a plan to deter importation of heroin from other states.

Scott refers often to the hope of recovery and a strong desire to help rescue Kentuckians from the ravages of addiction and restoration to full productivity, including expungement of criminal records in some cases, including restoration of all rights of citizenship.

"What I'm really telling you is to the extent we can truly rebuild a justice system that really rehabilitates our addicted prisoners and helps them rebuild their lives, pride and confidence in themselves, then we can and will be safe again in our homes, businesses and garages."

Thursday, April 16, 2015

A letter signed by nearly all Kentucky's entire Republican congressional delegation and delivered today took aim directly at gubernatorial candidates Hal Heiner and James Comer. The letter also invited all gubernatorial candidates to a post-election "Unity Rally" May 30 in Frankfort at GOP Headquarters.

"It is absolutely essential that we challenge a government-run healthcare system that is limiting choices and driving up costs for so many of our fellow citizens," the letter explained.

Comer and Heiner have been inconsistent at best in challenging the ObamaCare government-run healthcare system beginning last summer when they both told the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce they would take no action against the Kynect health insurance "exchange" which inspired another candidate to join the race. Both then reiterated their ambivalence in February in a national publication.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Gubernatorial candidates James Comer and Hal Heiner told the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce last summer they would do nothing to shut down ObamaCare's Kynect program in Kentucky. This February, they both told National Journal the same thing. They've both bristled at criticism received for going squishy on this key topic, but at least until now they haven't blamed other Republicans for their bad decisions.

Enter April and the issues of pensions and guns.

Last week, Comer shocked and awed primary election voters when he was asked by the Courier Journal's Joe Gerth why he voted himself a half million dollar pension gift from taxpayers when he was a legislator:

When asked why he voted for the bill to begin with, Comer hesitated for eight seconds. “Well, you know, there’s, it’s, the a, that was a, clearly a bad vote,” he said, before noting that Senate President Robert Stivers and current U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie voted for it.

When asked what he saw in the bill that made him like it in 2005, Comer said, “You know, ... I can’t remember that far back.”

That was last week. Then today, Heiner's campaign blamed a bad vote he made on banning guns on "ten other Republicans" who did the same.

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Republican gubernatorial candidate James Comer has figured out one way to beat Hal Heiner. He wants to send him to jail.

When a 501(c)(4) group called Citizens for Sound Government started running an ad attacking Comer for padding his pension in the legislature and for collecting federal farm subsidies, Comer responded as if the attacks came directly from Heiner himself. If true, that's a big problem.

"It's very discouraging Heiner would break his pledge to run a positive campaign," Comer told CN2 Politics. "I have a theory of who that donor may be (to Citizens for Sound Government.) It may be the same donor in his campaign."

Comer's clear suggestion that the 501(c)(4) ad was made in coordination with Heiner, would be an in-kind contribution under KRS 121.015 and subject to a $1000 limit under KRS 121.150. Under KRS 121.990(3), such a violation of contribution limits by Heiner would be a Class D Felony which could, under KRS 121.990(4), result in the Republican Party of Kentucky not having a nominee on the general election ballot if Heiner were nominated and removed after a successful complaint by the Democratic nominee.

Comer and Heiner should talk about this nonsense a lot more between now and May 19.